The Irish Grain and Feed Association (IGFA) has called on the government to come up with a financial rescue package for the pig sector.
IGFA director general, Maeve Whyte, wrote to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue earlier this week.
In the letter, she pointed out that that other member states are implementing emergency rescue plans for their pig sectors:
“If there is not immediate direct financial intervention at farm level, our valued pig farms will be forced to exit the sector.
“This is an unprecedented crisis that needs an unprecedented and prompt response.”
The IGFA is the united voice of the compound-feed manufacturers, feed-material importers, grain intake, and premix companies in Ireland.
Collectively, the organisation’s members produce approximately 4.7 million tonnes of animal feed annually.
Extended credit
Whyte also confirmed in the letter that IGFA members are in constant contact with their farming customers and have been supporting them through extended credit terms.
She explained:
“We have already increased pig-farmer credit by 30%, while also trying to cover our monthly feed-material ingredient purchases.
“We welcome steps taken to secure financial support options from the banks but customers tell us that Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland and Brexit bank loans are being constantly delayed, requiring more and more information.
“The situation is deteriorating day by day and it is vital that engagement is improved and more is done, as soon as possible, to ease the burden on these family farms.”
According to the IGFA director general, pig and poultry compound-feed volumes total 1.4 million tonnes. It has been estimated that this creates a demand for 748,750 tonnes of domestic cereals or approximately 47% of the total usable feed-grain crop in Ireland.
Whyte believes that the loss of these sectors from the supply chain could also have serious repercussions for Irish tillage farmers and knock-on impacts on other rural family businesses.
Other factors impacting dramatically on the pig industry include the insufficient slaughtering capacity available in Ireland at the present time.
In her communication to the minister, Whyte points out that farmers are now unable to sell optimum volumes of pigs on a regular basis.
She added:
“As animals cannot be moved off the farm, producers face additional feed costs, significant animal welfare concerns due to overcrowding and reduced cashflow.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has calculated that every finished pig produced in Ireland is currently dying in debt to the tune of €38/head.
“This is obviously completely unsustainable for pig farming families and will have wider implications for Irish food security, rural businesses and the maintenance of important export markets.”